Not since the retirement age was revealed. Whoa, that is another whole problem. The percentage change was one thing but to mess with when you can retire.

It was done to me several years ago when the retirement age moved from 60 to 62. So now for most people it is moving from 62 to 64. Yes, it is annoying but it is still lower than almost every other country in Europe. And it is still lower than when retirement age was 65 and Mitterrand lowered it to 60. And France still has the 35 hour work week. It's fine to complain but people should also count their blessings. Minimum vacation time for everybody is 5 weeks, and quite a few people have more -- I had 10 weeks by the time I retired.

We're creeping towards 68 in The Netherlands.

Paris will be fine.

I think as we live longer it will change here and everywhere. IMO France has it very good with the worker's benefits. I was laughing at the complaining about trump giving everyone Christmas eve off with pay. It is great for the office people but many Fed workers are hospital workers, VA home workers, postal workers, airport ops, military etc. They were complaining because they had worked it out for the use or lose pay and it screwed up their hours. We had the best vacation/sick leave there but I loved working holidays in lieu of pay for more vacation days. I would stack those days with overtime for more vacation. I think many presidents gave us a half day for Christmas eve.

It took us two days to get to Dublin and waiting now for our Munich flight. Five am arrival for Hartford. It is like zombie land here. People are sleeping everywhere. Weather delays were bad and they overbooked with all of us from the Orlando flight so were giving 1000 vouchers and flights for Thursday for people. Lots of students so some jumped at that offer. The consensus was we were all happy not to be going to Paris for the holiday.

We had a wonderful four-week holiday in Paris last December/early January -- no strikes, very cooperative weather, and the gilets jaunes disruptions were limited. The worst part of the trip was the throngs of tourists around Rue de Rivoli but we simply avoided that area as much as possible.

We're glad we opted not to postpone our holiday trip until this year as it would have been more complicated and less pleasant. That said, we also spent a week in Paris last month and it was lovely.

Below, the view we had from our apartment last December (and yes, the apartment was registered):

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...88e524c1ba.jpg

It's 67 in Italy, but there are some desperate politicians making imprudent promises.There are also various exceptions, or loopholes, if you prefer.

That is gorgeous, WT. I'd love info on that apartment!

Any chance on a link to that apartment...just stunning view.

Many French people in the competitive economy cannot work only 35 hours. Real careers require you to work the hours required to deliver your results. All the french people that i know work crazy hours and 5 weeks vacation exists only in their contract. How do you mean 'minimum vacation time'? You mean on paper or in reality for real people. When you say France has a 35 hour work week, do you mean on paper or in reality? For competitive, high pressure careers, time has moved on and over the last 10 or 15 years a lot has changed in France. And I suspect that it's not just high pressure career roles either.

Then there are the young people who can't get permanent jobs due to the high cost of permanent labour and work their tails off too. On the treadmill going from one short term job to the next.

How lovely! My sister and I were also in Paris for NYE and the first week of January and stayed near the Eiffel Tower, but not that near! We found that the gilets jaunes locations were announced at the beginning of the day, and planned our activities around that. It was an absolutely wonderful trip, and I'm sad to not be there this year and came to Fodors to live vicariously!

I don't know a lot of French people who are working in high-powered careers, but almost every French person I know logs a lot more than 35 hours a week working, whether they are in construction or artists or plumbers or electricians or own a shop. And yes, a few of the younger ones take off a month or so in winter and go to warm, cheap places, but a lot of them just close their shop and stay home for a couple of weeks (like the owners of the small supermarket we like to shop at from time to time) - they can't afford Ibiza or the Canaries or more than 2 weeks off work.

I'd never argue that French social services are lacking, but it's not all THAT rosy.

It is much rosier than when the retirement age was 65, the work week 40 hours and vacation was only 4 weeks. Of course, we had far more strikes back then -- and yet they were almost exclusively about salaries rather than working conditions or retirement.

High-powered careers? I worked in the Golden Triangle and even there I did not come across very many, except for Claude Guéant who rented the floor above my office and look what happened to him!

I think Michel Houllebecq would agree that France is a disaster.

Thin,aristocrat 🧿

It should never be forgotten that the majority of workers in France are not white collar and are not concerned by the flexible working hours of executives. Supermarket cashiers, sanitation workers, repair people, accountants, etc. just do their job and go home according to normal working hours. It is no secret that the majority of the users of this site can be considered to be members of the monied elite and have little experience with the "ordinary" working world. Just the fact that people are always asking about hotels for "only" 150 euros a night makes that very obvious.

The current social conflict concerns people who would never even visit Paris if they had to pay even 50 euros a night for accommodations. Most of the provincial French who come to Paris only come if they can stay with family or friends. (My own family only ever stayed with relatives in the suburbs -- staying in a hotel would have been unthinkable.) So when I see affluent visitors whining about strike conditions, I can only recommend that they go to perfect places with no problems -- or else shut up;

I received my education in French salaries while working in Paris. I was used to US wages for my profession and though I was happy to be in France I couldn't quite accept the reduction in my standard of living. During a conversation with my employer on the subject I complained about the relatively low wage & was told "entire French families live on what you're paid." I never complained again.

It's not just executives. What you're saying is very misleading. Businesses are reluctant to hire permanent staff because of the very high level of protection for employees. Sure, it's great to talk about 35 hours per week, 8 weeks vacation, and you can't be fired. Every employee loves that conceptually. But what is it REALLY like for workers? Or at least many workers. The ones who can't get a permanent job because all that's on offer are short term contracts? The ones who are in a global economy and need to keep up with everyone else? I think we all get that there are still many workers who bask in the sun of a 35 hour work week and 8 weeks vacation but that's not the reality for many and it's increasingly only theoretical as time marches on.

So please don't mislead people by talking about work weeks that are only theoretical for many. And please don't insult hard working people by suggesting that only wealthy elites are toiling beyond 35 hours per week.

What? you complained to le patron? you don't do that!
But they'll love to talk nonsense about their "living wage" and 35 hour work weeks. It's all a sham.

Apparently, I do.